Prepping to Move From Slow Finance Company to Fast Big Tech One
I'll be starting at Instacart in a couple weeks as an L4 Data Engineer on contract for 6 months to start. I'm coming from a finance company where things move slowly. I was a high performer in my department while regularly working 3 hours a day or less. Much of my time spent at my old job was dedicated towards finding my new job - applying, interviewing, taking courses, etc.
I know I will encounter a culture shock when I start at IC and want to prepare myself as much as possible for it. Mentally, I am taking the approach that I will put in a solid full-day, 8 hours of work every day and perhaps work some weeknights and weekends as well, although I'd like to minimize the need to do that by being effective and prioritizing work during my regular work hours.
In terms of preparation, from Taro I have gleaned that there are 2 main areas I should be focusing on:
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Code Quality and Velocity
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Communication
For 1), I have bookmarked Alex's Course on the topic and plan on doing it before I start working. For 2), I have bookmarked Rahul's Course on Onboarding and likewise plan on finishing the course before starting work. I actually plan on doing Rahul's Onboarding Course before Alex's Code Course.
Is there anything else I should be aware of? I have gone through Alex's short course on Communication already as well as looked over these threads:
- Advice for someone joining big tech from a non big tech background?
- Adapting to Big Tech
- Culture shock from a small company to Big Tech?
I imagine the advice for me is virtually identical to the above threads, but if there's anything I'm missing, please fill me in!
Thanks!!
Discussion
(7 comments)- 3
3 months agoFriendly TarodactylTaro CommunityGreat question - commenting here to follow.
Also just wanted to add I think you wrote this out really well.
- 3
3 months agoSoftware Engineer at MicrosoftI also made a switch a long time ago from traditional industries (energy and banking) to tech companies. Although that was when I was doing internships and not a full time employee, I think my experience might help.
You already covered the hard skills part. Definitely all the references from Taro you posted will help you and your attitude tells me you’re already working on your onboarding.
With that said, I think the the biggest shock for you will probably be the company’s culture and hierarchy. In traditional companies, it may be uncommon that managers have regular 1-1s with their reports for example, and still use waterfall project management instead of Agile.
So, try to make the most of your meetings with your manager. You mentioned this is a contract position, do you think about getting a permanent one? If yes you should signal this early and ask for constant feedback on how you can achieve that since you only have six months. Still on the meetings topic, understand what are the ceremonies your team does (daily sync up, planning, retrospective, monthly demo days) and be active. It’s likely that your previous company didn’t have that.
These are all generalizations of course, but in summary what I would do in your place is to study hard Instacart’s culture and try my best to adapt fast.
Congratulations on your new job and best of luck!
- 03 months agoMid-Level Data Engineer [OP]Instacart
You are totally right about the 1 on 1s not being common in traditional companies! I have to ask for 1 on 1s and generally things slide.
- 2
3 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course HeroI think you're doing great in terms of preparation, overall mentality, and writing this post! Building off of the communication angle, the relationships portion is particularly critical. There is so, so, soooo much value in becoming that well-liked friendly face. I would go through this if you haven't already (and if you have, revisit it): [Masterclass] How To Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech
If you have a strong internal network, everything will naturally fall into place as people give you the right feedback to adjust your behavior and mentality properly.
- 23 months agoMid-Level Data Engineer [OP]Instacart
Thank you Luciana and Alex!
- 0
3 months agoData Engineer [OP]Financial CompanyOne thing I just thought of, would it be weird/harmful if I asked a stakeholder I spoke with after getting the offer if they have any suggestions for preparation? I imagine it would be since I haven't heard back from my manager on things to look over before starting.
- 23 months agoSoftware Engineer at Microsoft
This is non weird at all, it shows great initiative and interest! There might be a chance that they will tell you to don’t worry about it and to relax before your start (happened with me), but this will not hurt you in any manner.
